Swedish ASIC miner company kncminer.com

[Phoenix1969]

I admit, those very first customers had to wait a bit longer hence some extra stress. I know, I paid around June 20th, and months of waiting was not pleasant. So, the fair way would probably be some sort of progressive reward, dependent on pay day (probably taking into account btc value at the time of purchase, even). But one can see how much nightmare that would be, so I expect KNC to just lump all October customers together.

yeah, it probably does include all previous customers.....

[realtime]

Bitcoinarama,

Can you confirm if existing KnC customers will get any advantage over the general public on the next gen ordering schedule?

I'm suprised they havent sent an email at least announcing this, as others had said some heads up would be nice ahead of 'hey guys books open lolzzzz'

[Phoenix1969]

Call it what you will, I'm "All In" with KNC, re-investing every bit that comes in as fast as it is possible here at KNC, but that's me...   I fully agree with Winlevoss when they valuate BTC @ 40grand plus a coin within a couple years.... my numbers actually say much higher.

Then you're far better off simply buying BTC instead of a risky miner purchase. You're almost guaranteed to make a better return.

You are probably right, but I love mining....
and I'm doin' well so far....I'm goin for it.

[Phoenix1969]

Bitcoinarama,

Can you confirm if existing KnC customers will get any advantage over the general public on the next gen ordering schedule?

I'm suprised they havent sent an email at least announcing this, as others had said some heads up would be nice ahead of 'hey guys books open lolzzzz'

The order book will likely open either tomorrow, or in the coming days.

Not sure what you mean by what kind of refusal? In any case wait and see at the point of announcement.

Dare say it will be first come first served to previous customers for a designated period of time. I have no idea of there is a limit, or whether there's a reseller program. Though of there is please use the reseller link in my sig. Ta v.much

[timmmers]

Interesting news.

I hope KNC learn how to send email so we can learn the whole story. I have had very few.

Just a little reality check here, had the price of BTC stayed where it was when we ordered or risen as seemed more likely back then we'd all be in a very different place right now. We had a lucky quadrupling of the exchange price which put smiles on our faces...and apparently erased all the other stuff that happened from memory.

I can't see them needing to use pre-orders at all now, a 50/50 split would be much more equitable.

I wish you luck if you jump on the double or quits game again, it takes balls or stupidity IMO.

Call it what you will, I'm "All In" with KNC, re-investing every bit that comes in as fast as it is possible here at KNC, but that's me...   I fully agree with Winlevoss when they valuate BTC @ 40grand plus a coin within a couple years.... my numbers actually say much higher. What do you think is going to happen when PayPal announces Taking BTC? and Google?... How about this election, when politicians will be accepting campaign contributions in BTC, or When the Borse IPO is listed on the NYSE? or when BTC actually hits Forex, or a commodity exchange? We have a looooong way to go....this is just the beginning.  

I hope you're right mate, personally I see those two goons are greedy self promoters who say things to prompt a reaction from some sectors...I think it will take longer to get to those levels. Long term assuming it doesn't completely bust out due to some govt interference or something it's a wise move to collect them and not use them to buy risky mining rigs

Based on what Orama just said about them not "needing to" ..they now know they can pretty much  charge what they like for gen 2 and they'll still all sell out...so that's going to be the interesting thing, how many of your hard mined coins will you need to put back into the roulette wheel to play this round?

[-ck]

Call it what you will, I'm "All In" with KNC, re-investing every bit that comes in as fast as it is possible here at KNC, but that's me...   I fully agree with Winlevoss when they valuate BTC @ 40grand plus a coin within a couple years.... my numbers actually say much higher.

Then you're far better off simply buying BTC instead of a risky miner purchase. You're almost guaranteed to make a better return.

You are probably right, but I love mining....

We also love pushing diff up too so we can keep earning less.

[warhawk187]

What I tried to underline is that:
a) I have no idea what caused my Saturns problems, my Jupiter running on the same line and same PSU type was not affected
b) The Saturns came with all boards affected by die #0 issue, (same as my Jupiter), they are running with die #0 off on 0.98
c) Both Saturns ran pretty well on 0.98.1 beta, one of them easily powering all dies, the other required more heat and was really hard to keep all dies powered on
d) Once 0.99 was released, i switched all my machines to it and for a day or two, they were running the same as on 0.98.1 beta
e) All of a sudden, both Saturns became affected with disabled cores, but in a different way: one of them simply has all cores disabled at startup (and keeps them like that) on 0.98.1 beta or official and 0.99. The other one starts normally, but after a while almost all cores on the same ASIC (coincidence?), the lower one on the web interface, gets disabled, only 0-5 cores remaining enabled on each die. Again, disabled cores are present on just one ASIC, the lower one in the web interface page.
This started at a day or 2 after 0.99 and the problem remained even after hard reset and affecting 0.98.1 as well, beta or official.
f) Both Saturns run normally (with their die #0 issue) on 0.98

My guess was that 0.99 FW somehow caused this issue, but it just persists now on 0.98.1 as well.

While upgrading my Saturn, I too ran into issues and now one of the new boards and one of the old boards are completely dead. All dies and cores report off. Enable cores doesn't work, all firmwares: nothing, plugged PCI-E straight into board: nothing. Most likely an RMA issue, and a PITA, to boot. Running their diagnostic shows all dies are idle. Don't want to risk 'heating' them up because I don't want to risk the electronics if I have to send it back anyways. I'm out of options unless anyone here has a method that brought back a dead board. My bertmod output is:

Its pretty much the same for the two failing boards. Different ports make no difference.

Mining Status

CGMiner Status   Running (pid=1654)
Last Checked   Mon Nov 25 22:50:14 UTC 2013
Avg. Hash Rate   0 Gh/s
WU   0
Difficulty Accepted   0
HW Status

ASIC slot #1   -
ASIC slot #2   -
ASIC slot #3   27.0 ℃
ASIC slot #4   -
ASIC slot #5   -
ASIC slot #6   -
STATUS=S
When=1385419799
Code=11
Msg=Summary
Description=cgminer 3.8.1|SUMMARY
Elapsed=210
MHS av=0.00
MHS 5s=0.00
Found Blocks=0
Getworks=14
Accepted=0
Rejected=0
Hardware Errors=0
Utility=0.00
Discarded=16
Stale=0
Get Failures=0
Local Work=275
Remote Failures=0
Network Blocks=2
Total MH=0.0000
Work Utility=0.00
Difficulty Accepted=0.00000000
Difficulty Rejected=0.00000000
Difficulty Stale=0.00000000
Best Share=0
Device Hardware%=0.0000
Device Rejected%=0.0000
Pool Rejected%=0.0000
Pool Stale%=0.0000|
ASIC Board   Info
2   
Temperature sensor: 27.0 C

Die ID   Cores ON   Cores OFF   %
0   0   48   0
1   0   48   0
2   0   48   0
3   0   48   0
DC/DC ID   ON/OFF   Status   Input Voltage   Output Voltage   Output Current
0   ON   OK   12.1 V   0.769 V   0.188 A
1   No DC/DC detected
2   ON   OK   12.2 V   0.786 V   0.312 A
3   No DC/DC detected
4   ON   OK   12.1 V   0.742 V   0.25 A
5   No DC/DC detected
6   No DC/DC detected
7   ON   OK   12.2 V   0.771 V   0.375 A
Total DC/DC power output: 0 W

[Bitcoinorama]

Dare say it will be first come first served to previous customers for a designated period of time. I have no idea of there is a limit, or whether there's a reseller program. Though of there is please use the reseller link in my sig. Ta v.much

Spoke to customer service today, the guy (Kurt, i think) said that the reseller scheme is on for 2nd gen

Sweet you know where my link is then!

[Minor Miner]

Call it what you will, I'm "All In" with KNC, re-investing every bit that comes in as fast as it is possible here at KNC, but that's me...   I fully agree with Winlevoss when they valuate BTC @ 40grand plus a coin within a couple years.... my numbers actually say much higher.

Then you're far better off simply buying BTC instead of a risky miner purchase. You're almost guaranteed to make a better return.

You are probably right, but I love mining....

We also love pushing diff up too so we can keep earning less.

Mining helps you learn why OPEC continued to fail....    Even if we all agreed to buy no more machines, people still would.

[Bitcoinorama]

Bitcoinarama,

Can you confirm if existing KnC customers will get any advantage over the general public on the next gen ordering schedule?

I'm suprised they havent sent an email at least announcing this, as others had said some heads up would be nice ahead of 'hey guys books open lolzzzz'

I'm going to hazard a guess you haven't read a single thing I've typed recently...

Anyway, night!

[CYPER]

Hello Jupiter Owners. (also other miners may pitch in as well)

Anyone got a Temperature reader/gun.

Any chance you could measure the Temperature of the PCI cables, seen another post for a Bitfury thingy where a PCI cable burnt out.

I have Just Measured mine, running at 28c, 30c , 35c , 40c. Measured where it connects to the Jupiter PCI-e extension cable.

Ambient Temp for the Room is 26c.

Cheers

C_C  

V850 markings on the cable says 80C, which I assume is the max temperature.
I've measured mine before when I had 2 modules connected at the same cable and it peaked at 46.
Since then I made it so each cable only feeds 1 module and my max temp on the V850 now is 40 and on the EVGA G2 1300W is 36 (EVGA cables have braiding/sleeving).

I think yours are fine

[Phoenix1969]

Call it what you will, I'm "All In" with KNC, re-investing every bit that comes in as fast as it is possible here at KNC, but that's me...   I fully agree with Winlevoss when they valuate BTC @ 40grand plus a coin within a couple years.... my numbers actually say much higher.

Then you're far better off simply buying BTC instead of a risky miner purchase. You're almost guaranteed to make a better return.

You are probably right, but I love mining....

We also love pushing diff up too so we can keep earning less.

Awww, cmon, you know this is a horse-race!
If every asic company suddenly went under...okay, no worries...
I'd happily mine & hold without the worry of outpacing the diffchange.
But you know what reality is better than most...  so I'm faced with few options as a miner...
re-invest aggressively, or accept diminishing returns as they are.
What would you have to DEV if there were no new machines coming to market?  

[matthewh3]

Interesting news.

I hope KNC learn how to send email so we can learn the whole story. I have had very few.

Just a little reality check here, had the price of BTC stayed where it was when we ordered or risen as seemed more likely back then we'd all be in a very different place right now. We had a lucky quadrupling of the exchange price which put smiles on our faces...and apparently erased all the other stuff that happened from memory.

I can't see them needing to use pre-orders at all now, a 50/50 split would be much more equitable.

I wish you luck if you jump on the double or quits game again, it takes balls or stupidity IMO.

Call it what you will, I'm "All In" with KNC, re-investing every bit that comes in as fast as it is possible here at KNC, but that's me...   I fully agree with Winlevoss when they valuate BTC @ 40grand plus a coin within a couple years.... my numbers actually say much higher. What do you think is going to happen when PayPal announces Taking BTC? and Google?... How about this election, when politicians will be accepting campaign contributions in BTC, or When the Borse IPO is listed on the NYSE? or when BTC actually hits Forex, or a commodity exchange? We have a looooong way to go....this is just the beginning.  

I hope you're right mate, personally I see those two goons are greedy self promoters who say things to prompt a reaction from some sectors...I think it will take longer to get to those levels. Long term assuming it doesn't completely bust out due to some govt interference or something it's a wise move to collect them and not use them to buy risky mining rigs

Based on what Orama just said about them not "needing to" ..they now know they can pretty much  charge what they like for gen 2 and they'll still all sell out...so that's going to be the interesting thing, how many of your hard mined coins will you need to put back into the roulette wheel to play this round?

+1 bitcoin could very well be over $2K/$3K per coin with difficulty well over 3Billion by the time they start shipping KNC generation two.  I think a wise move is for every BTC1 spent on KNC generation two is to put BTC1 into cold storage as a hedge.  After all KNC are only using pre-orders at all on their second generation as a hedge.  They are in a position now to get out of the risky pre-orders game now but are choosing not too.  After seeing all the benefits of taking really early pre-orders.

[soy]

What I tried to underline is that:
a) I have no idea what caused my Saturns problems, my Jupiter running on the same line and same PSU type was not affected
b) The Saturns came with all boards affected by die #0 issue, (same as my Jupiter), they are running with die #0 off on 0.98
c) Both Saturns ran pretty well on 0.98.1 beta, one of them easily powering all dies, the other required more heat and was really hard to keep all dies powered on
d) Once 0.99 was released, i switched all my machines to it and for a day or two, they were running the same as on 0.98.1 beta
e) All of a sudden, both Saturns became affected with disabled cores, but in a different way: one of them simply has all cores disabled at startup (and keeps them like that) on 0.98.1 beta or official and 0.99. The other one starts normally, but after a while almost all cores on the same ASIC (coincidence?), the lower one on the web interface, gets disabled, only 0-5 cores remaining enabled on each die. Again, disabled cores are present on just one ASIC, the lower one in the web interface page.
This started at a day or 2 after 0.99 and the problem remained even after hard reset and affecting 0.98.1 as well, beta or official.
f) Both Saturns run normally (with their die #0 issue) on 0.98

My guess was that 0.99 FW somehow caused this issue, but it just persists now on 0.98.1 as well.

While upgrading my Saturn, I too ran into issues and now one of the new boards and one of the old boards are completely dead. All dies and cores report off. Enable cores doesn't work, all firmwares: nothing, plugged PCI-E straight into board: nothing. Most likely an RMA issue, and a PITA, to boot. Running their diagnostic shows all dies are idle. Don't want to risk 'heating' them up because I don't want to risk the electronics if I have to send it back anyways. I'm out of options unless anyone here has a method that brought back a dead board. My bertmod output is:

Its pretty much the same for the two failing boards. Different ports make no difference.

Mining Status

CGMiner Status   Running (pid=1654)
Last Checked   Mon Nov 25 22:50:14 UTC 2013
Avg. Hash Rate   0 Gh/s
WU   0
Difficulty Accepted   0
HW Status

ASIC slot #1   -
ASIC slot #2   -
ASIC slot #3   27.0 ℃
ASIC slot #4   -
ASIC slot #5   -
ASIC slot #6   -
STATUS=S
When=1385419799
Code=11
Msg=Summary
Description=cgminer 3.8.1|SUMMARY
Elapsed=210
MHS av=0.00
MHS 5s=0.00
Found Blocks=0
Getworks=14
Accepted=0
Rejected=0
Hardware Errors=0
Utility=0.00
Discarded=16
Stale=0
Get Failures=0
Local Work=275
Remote Failures=0
Network Blocks=2
Total MH=0.0000
Work Utility=0.00
Difficulty Accepted=0.00000000
Difficulty Rejected=0.00000000
Difficulty Stale=0.00000000
Best Share=0
Device Hardware%=0.0000
Device Rejected%=0.0000
Pool Rejected%=0.0000
Pool Stale%=0.0000|
ASIC Board   Info
2   
Temperature sensor: 27.0 C

Die ID   Cores ON   Cores OFF   %
0   0   48   0
1   0   48   0
2   0   48   0
3   0   48   0
DC/DC ID   ON/OFF   Status   Input Voltage   Output Voltage   Output Current
0   ON   OK   12.1 V   0.769 V   0.188 A
1   No DC/DC detected
2   ON   OK   12.2 V   0.786 V   0.312 A
3   No DC/DC detected
4   ON   OK   12.1 V   0.742 V   0.25 A
5   No DC/DC detected
6   No DC/DC detected
7   ON   OK   12.2 V   0.771 V   0.375 A
Total DC/DC power output: 0 W

Did you try swapping the ribbon cable between a working module and a failing module?  Or removing the working module leaving all good cables in place.  Remove the non-working module, take off the tower and inspect the heatsink compound and the board with a loupe or magnifying glass, then put it in place of the good module and try to fire up.

[tolip_wen]

This is a repeat and amalgamation of previous posts by others.

More options exist for folks wanting to squeeze every bit out of the modules than is frequently mentioned here.

For the record I am bfgminer/cgminer agnostic.
I use both, they are only tools and each has it's strong points.

For a unit that just boots and runs well I usually use cgminer.
For more details and manual control of each core I use BFGMiner.

KnC iffn ya reading, it would be trivial to include BOTH!!!
Please!

The rest of this post addresses bfgminer and finding details about cores.

A ???version of bfgminer can be had using bertmod.
I rarely use bertmod as I get the same and more from bfgminer.

To get latest bfgminer to run on my KnC miner I use the following method.
(there are many ways to skin this cat)

Simplest way is paste the relevant parts from this file into a file on the BBB and run it.
 https://github.com/luke-jr/bfgminer/blob/bfgminer/README.ASIC

You could paste the lines one at a time on the BBB and run em one at a time too.

My quirky way of doing it.
On your PC, get 'git' if needed, use git and clone the latest bfgminer code.
In Linux I cd to /usr/src before I clone the repository.
Win folks might start at the C:\ prompt and will end up with c:\bfgminer folder.

"git clone git://github.com/luke-jr/bfgminer.git"
or
"git clone https://github.com/luke-jr/bfgminer.git"

This will clone you a local copy of the bfgminer source code.
(stick with me even if you do not compile your own on the PC)

cd into the newly created bfgminer directory (folder in Winish)
Read the file README.ASIC and look in the KnC section for instructions.

I copy and paste everything between Start and END into a file on my BBB.
Do not include the lines with Start and END.
Details of how to create a file on the BBB follow.
On the BBB SSH in as root

"cd /config"
"vi BFGMiner_ram_build"
Vi is quirky for beginners, fear not, just a few simple commands needed.
Once Vi has opened a new file hit the 'i' key (i=insert)
Copy with your mouse and highlighting, the code from the README.ASIC file.
Paste it into the vi window after hitting the 'i' key.
Save it with 'Esc Esc :wq'
Escape to get out of insert mode, an extra for good measure, the colon to tell vi a command is next, and w=write and q=quit.
If things go wrong "Esc :q!" to quit vi without writing and start over.

Once the file is created and saved.
Either
   "chmod 700 BFGMiner_ram_build"
   "./BFGMiner_ram_build"
OR
   "source ./BFGMiner_ram_build"

This takes a while. (cgminer is still hashing away during the process)
When it finishes it will stop cgminer and start bfgminer.

On the bfgminer screen you can use "m" key to view details on each core.
Use the up and down arrows to scroll thru the cores, Enter to return to main bfgminer screen.
After about 15-30 minutes the evil cores will have high error% and 0 accepted.
Sometimes a core will show a low hashrate too.
Disable the evil ones with the "d" key.
I refrain from zeroing the stats to get long term info.
It takes longer for the error averages to come down but keeps the core info intact.

Not all high error cores are always evil, some just need bad neighbors turned off to be productive.
I turn off one(or just a few) core and watch the hashrate for changes.
Later(hour at least) you can try enabling them one at a time and watch for changes.


OPTIONAL
If/when it finishes and starts running without errors quit or SSH into a new session.
(I edit the install script to NOT auto start bfgminer)
"cd /config/bfgminer"
"cp /etc/init.d/cgminer.sh /config/bfgminer/bfgminer.sh"
This shell script runs the KnC startup routines again before starting bfgminer when you start bfgminer with the .sh file.

You will now have a choice of editors VI or NANO(nano was installed by the buildscript)

"vi /config/bfgminer/bfgminer.sh"
OR
"nano /config/bfgminer/bfgminer.sh"

change 3 lines at the top of the copy of the file
FROM
   DAEMON=/usr/bin/cgminer
   NAME=cgminer
   DESC="Cgminer daemon"
TO
   DAEMON=/config/bfgminer/bfgminer
   NAME=bfgminer
   DESC="BFGminer daemon"

One more line to change near the end of the file
FROM
        start-stop-daemon -b -S -x screen -- -S cgminer -t cgminer -m -d "$DAEMON" --default-config /config/cgminer.conf
TO
           start-stop-daemon -b -S -x screen -- -S bfgminer -t bfgminer -m -d "$DAEMON" --default-config /config/cgminer.conf

Thats it, ready to run.
Stop cgminer (if it is running)
   "/etc/init.d/cgminer.sh stop"
Start bfgminer in screen mode
   "/config/bfgminer/bfgminer.sh start"

Now a 'screen -r" should show you bfgminer hashing away.

Lots more info is also available.
Now we can also go to our PC and install miner.php (on the PC used to monitor everything) from the (PC) bfgminer source code directory. (you need php installed already too)
Everything you never wanted to know about your cores is listed on the miner.php summary page.

***you have to use the miner.php from the bfgminer source folder as it is modified to display the excellent KnC API info only available only when using bfgminer.
(this may already be rolled into the precompiled binary zip, have not looked)

miner.php installation instructions are in ther folder with miner.php somewhere.
You will need to also make a 'myminer.php' file and put it in the same folder as the INSTALLED miner.php file.
(on my linux box it is installed in /var/www/htdocs/) <<-- yours may be different
Add a line that has you miners IP addresses.
ex:
$rigs = array('192.168.100.93:4028:Mercury','172.19.100.102:4028:Saturn','10.10.100.103:4028:Jupiter');
(it's all one long line)
Then in your PC browser just input "<your PC IP address>/miner.php"

miner.php has a quirk or two,
bfgminer program uses letters to identify cores and the miner.php summary page uses numbers.
If you click the 'stats' button on the miner.php page you will find both Lukeish and numbers side by side for translation.

If you do choose to use miner.php you can also make custom pages.
For example I edited my 'myminer.php' file thusly (follow link)
http://codepad.org/YLQBbJEm


As stated in the beginning there are many ways to skin this cat.
If you reboot you will need to rerun the build script and redo the build.
(you could copy the build script and edit out the bfgminer download part as it is already on the machine after running it once)
There are ways around this rebuilding every time.
One way is used by latest bertmod, unzip it and have a look in the files

I also do a wierd OPTIONAL thing with the bfgminer install script.
First I create a opkg.cache directory.
"mkdir /config/opkg.cache"
then I edit the build script.
every instance(4 instances) in the file of "opkg install"
I change it to
"opkg --cache /config/opkg.cache install" (the rest of the line remains intact)
Then next time I want to build from scratch the needed pkg's are already in the cache folder instead of needing to download again.
(better ways exist but harder for me to explain)

The next bit is not recommended for those just following the recipe.
If you like adventure you can edit the driver-knc.c file and rebuild.
I tweak the 'core disable/enable strategy' constants for longer initial timeouts.
Every machine is different and no one strategy is IMneverHO ideal for all.
then rebuild with
"make AR=arm-angstrom-linux-gnueabi-ar"

I'm sure there are errors in this post, I'll edit if they are pointed out.

Hopefully the time invested in the process gains you a few Gh/s.
It will display more detail about individual cores.

As usual YMMV

[Biffa]

Hello Jupiter Owners. (also other miners may pitch in as well)

Anyone got a Temperature reader/gun.

Any chance you could measure the Temperature of the PCI cables, seen another post for a Bitfury thingy where a PCI cable burnt out.

I have Just Measured mine, running at 28c, 30c , 35c , 40c. Measured where it connects to the Jupiter PCI-e extension cable.

Ambient Temp for the Room is 26c.

Cheers

C_C  

Mine are similar, 34-36°C but it might be dependent on the firmware you are running, also with the Bitfury miners they can be overclocked and pull alot more volts than at stock which might push a borderline psu cable beyond its capabilities.

[Paladin69]

O'rama, be nice: can you give us a hint of hashrate? What kind of ASIC will it be?

There will be more info tomo. Figures have been mentioned, but I'm not going to steal anyone else's thunder. They're working hard for this, 20nm is just being released for commercial use, and we'll be one of the first companies in the world to half-step down to this process node. The figures have to make sense, Alchip flew here Friday week before last, and we are proceeding with the design.

20nm is only for commercial use?  What?

What does half-step down mean?  The planet Neptune is smaller than Jupiter so I assume these devices are slower but designed to fit in a small rack or something that consumes less power?

Orders are actually opening tomorrow?  Some specs would be nice before orders open.

[ASIC-K]

if they use bit pay only again and sell out in 3 minutes. I'm coming to sweden and burning down their offices

[xyzzy099]

<AWESOME Guide Deleted>

Wow, very nice write-up

[Rampion]

Call it what you will, I'm "All In" with KNC, re-investing every bit that comes in as fast as it is possible here at KNC, but that's me...   I fully agree with Winlevoss when they valuate BTC @ 40grand plus a coin within a couple years.... my numbers actually say much higher.

Then you're far better off simply buying BTC instead of a risky miner purchase. You're almost guaranteed to make a better return.

You are probably right, but I love mining....

We also love pushing diff up too so we can keep earning less.

Exactly. Pretty much a vicious circle, isn't it?